Farm Boy
You crouch down in front of Milker, your family's cow. She gave birth two nights ago, and hasn't been herself since. You glance over at her calf, who is lying nearby. Your little sister, Annabella, is sitting beside it with her arms around its neck. She's only seven, but she loves all animals very much. "Will Milker be okay?" she asks you now. You shrug, focusing on the black and white spotted cow again. Her big brown eyes are dull and lifeless, and her head is lowered miserably. "What about Newbie? He'll be alright, won't he?" Annabella asks desperately, patting the calf on the head. "Yeah, Newbie'll be fine," you say, sounding more confident than you feel. The new calf hasn't been named yet. Your litte brother, Adam, who's only three, wants to call the calf Moo-Moo, but you refuse to agree to that. It was bad enough the Annabella named Milker when you bought her three years ago. Still, none of the farm animals around here have very good names. "Let's go inside, Jo-Jo," Annabella says, coming up and grabbing your hand. Jo-Jo isn't your name, just a pet name your sister made up for you, when she was very small and refused to learn your real name. You don't mind when she calls you that, only not in front of your friends. Then it's plain embarrassing. "In a minute, Annie," you tell her, peering at Milker again. "We need to find out what's wrong with her." "Daddy will fetch the doctor. He'll know," Annabella says confidently. "Come on Jo-Jo," she adds, tugging at your hand to make you follow her. "Mummy says not to forget how early you have to be up tomorrow! You have to go hunting, remember?" "Because Father is fetching the vet," you remember gloomily. "Alright Annie, I'm coming now, see?" You stand up, dust your hands down on your trousers, and follow your small sister out of the barn and into the house. It's warm in there, with the lamps all lit, and candles swinging from the wall brackets. Your mother is setting the table, Adam clinging to her skirt and swaying back and forth with her movement. "Go and wash your hands before dinner," your mother instructs, looking up. "And I want you in pyjamas, Annie, and Jo-Jo in clean clothes." "I don't want to change my clothes just before bed," you complain. "Alright," your mother sighs. "But change those trousers at least. They're filthy, and they have holes in them." "But I was saving my good pair for hunting!" you complain. "It won't do them any harm to be worn for twenty minutes during dinner. Unless you want to eat in your pyjamas too?" "No way!" you grin, and thud up the stairs, followed by your sister. Little Adam toddles to the foot of the stairs and yells up after you. "Dod thup! Dod thup!" "The baby knows it better than they do," you hear your mother grumble, while you and Annabella fight over who gets the bathroom sink first. You win, rinse your hands quickly, dry them on Annabella's shirt, while she complains loudly, and hurry into the bedroom the two of you share. After pulling on clean trousers, you open the door to let your sister in to change, and you head back downstairs. You're glad that Annabella's so polite, or it would be even worse sharing a room with her. Your parents even say that it's time for Adam to share the room as well, which you think would be a complete disaster. Adam's cute, but he's very loud at four o'clock in the morning. Dinner is good, with roast chicken and potatoes. Annabella cries about killing one of your farm chickens, until your father explains that he found a wild chicken and used that instead. Annabella stops crying, but you can tell that she still doesn't believe him, so after dinner you piggy-back her out to the chicken run and show her that all five are still there. Once she's satisfied, you both go back in, and you change into your pyjamas while Annabella washes her teeth. Finally, you fall into your bed, exhausted as always by the long chores and handiwork that always need doing, and are asleep within minutes. Tomorrow your hunt begins. Click here to continue your journey.